Gigantour
By Taylor Green
Thursday. Sep 01, 2:41 AM
live at The Cove (Sacramento, CA) July 26th, 2005.

It's gigantic. It's a tour. A gigantic tour!? What better name than Gigantour? God I love cartoons.

Anyway, the music is what counts, right? And the music was out in full effect for this show. That was Dave Mustaine's big selling point for Gigantour: that it’s a compilation of some of the finest musicians in metal today. And he did have a point. Dream Theater, Symphony X, and The Dillinger Escape Plan are some of the highest regarded bands in terms of musicianship since Cream. And don't knock on Fear Factory or Dry Kill Logic or anyone else at Gigantour, either. These bands are all solid, and most of them give ripping live shows.

I got there just in time for Dry Kill Logic's set, and though they're one of my favorite lesser known bands, the set was a little lackluster. They played not one of their singles, which was interesting because I really wanted to rock out to "Rot.” But they made up for the lack of stuff I expected them to play by closing with a dedication to Dimebag Darrell and Bryan Ottoson with their awesome cover of "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck." The non-fans loved it just as much as the faithful in the audience. And for a band like Dry Kill Logic, Gigantour is a huge opportunity for them to show the world what they’re about. Just play "Rot" next time. I'm sure they don't want to be the band that does “that one song,” but it rules and they know it.

After Dry Kill Logic, the awesome twist to the show was unveiled: the zero set change times. As Dry Kill Logic ended on the second stage, adjacent to the main stage Nevermore immediately charged out and attacked the crowd. And it went that way right on into the night. In fact, the only two set changes were between Bobaflex and Dry Kill Logic and the two headliners. Overall, it led for a relentless show, which would have been awesome were it not for the 101 degree heat in Sacramento that afternoon. It was a bad day for a concert, but the bands definitely made the people feel at home even in the harsh heat.

Symphony X came out and kicked ass, and following them Fear Factory had the first big show of the day. The band played a great mix of material spanning their whole catalogue, leaving fans chanting as they exited the stage. Life Of Agony followed and delivered some solid tunes for 40 minutes. Ironically, the introduction to "Love to Let You Down" was "this is our hit single..." which lead to my saying "River Runs Red?" However, joking aside, the set was awesome. Life Of Agony are great, regardless of what the many naysayers might say (though they have yet to match that magic of River Runs Red).

And then came what the night was all about. Dream Theater came out to a huge response and began to play the longest eight song set I've heard in my life. Two songs literally took up 35-minute chunks, which isn't a bad thing. Anyone who can play guitar nonstop for that long is a champion in my book, and John Petrucci is definitely that. The medley they started off with was great, even though the second I got into a song I liked it would quickly end. The combination of material was excellent, and Dream Theater did not disappoint.

Dream Theater also proved to be a great rest for the crowd. With them went the sun, and then after a 30-minute set change, the fans exploded as Megadeth hit the stage, starting with "Blackmail the Universe" and going through every hit and then some (though they didn't play anything off The World Needs a Hero, to no one's surprise or disappointment). Megadeth were amazing, but no one was expecting otherwise. The set was the best hour and-a-half of live music I've heard in a while. Pyro exploded several times during their set, strobe lights flashed in the background, and all hell broke lose in the pit. It was a metal show at its finest.

Gigantour definitely reminded me of what I thought Ozzfest would've been like in its early days. Luckily Mustaine has the exposure for Gigantour and the friendly competition throughout these summer festivals going for him. However, the day focused too much on the headliners (though that could be a good thing, since they are both amazing), sort of like Ozzfest. It's a smaller sized show, and it's definitely entertaining, but it sadly won't be the show to see of the summer.

And for my final statement, NO DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN!?! They were pretty much the one band I wanted to see. How can they miss out on the first 10 or so tour stops!? Time to take a road trip to Portland!!!
www.gigantour.com

Taylor Green

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